1878 in France
Events from the year 1878 in France.Incumbents
January to June
- 5 February – Jean Becquerel, physicist
- 5 February – André Citroën, automobile pioneer
- 21 February – Mirra Alfassa, spiritual leader
- 28 February – Pierre Fatou, mathematician
- 2 April – Émilie Charmy, artist
- 17 April – Albert Canet, tennis player
- 26 May – Charles Burguet, film director
- 28 May – Paul Pelliot, sinologist and explorer
July to December
- 22 July – Lucien Febvre, social historian
- 16 August – Léon Binoche, rugby union player
- 2 September – Maurice René Fréchet, mathematician
- 15 October – Paul Reynaud, politician and lawyer
- 17 October – Henri Mulet, organist and composer
- 14 November – Julie Manet, painter and art collector
- 23 November – André Caplet, composer and conductor
Full date unknown
- René Baudichon, sculptor and medallist
- Georges Garnier, soccer player
Deaths
- 7 January – François-Vincent Raspail, chemist, physiologist and socialist
- 8 January – Charles Cousin-Montauban, Comte de Palikao, general and statesman
- 18 January – Antoine César Becquerel, scientist
- 19 January – Henri Victor Regnault, chemist and physicist
- 11 February – Auguste Poulet-Malassis, printer and publisher
- 19 February – Charles-François Daubigny, painter
- 2 April – Louis Léonard de Loménie, author
- 8 April – Eugène Belgrand, engineer
- 6 May – François Benoist, composer and organist
- 25 May – Antoine Laurent Dantan, sculptor
- 6 June – Achille Baraguey d'Hilliers, Marshal of France and politician
- 12 June - George V of Hanover, German monarch of kingdom Hannover
- 2 September – Garcin de Tassy, orientalist
- 11 October – Félix Dupanloup, Bishop of Orléans
- 31 October – Louis-Antoine Garnier-Pagès, politician
- 8 November – Joseph-Epiphane Darras, historian
Full date unknown
- Amédée Fauré, painter
- Nicolas Remy Maire, bow maker
